Alana Beard
Alana Monique Beard (born May 14, 1982 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is a professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. She was the first Duke women's basketball player to have her jersey number (20) retired. She resides in the Washington, DC area, where she is founder and President of the Alana Beard Foundation. The foundation currently sponsors 7 AAU teams. Six teams are located in Maryland called Alana Beard's Future and one team in Shreveport, Louisiana called the Southern Mystics. Early years Beard was born on May 14, 1982 to LeRoy and Marie Beard. High school Beard played for Southwood High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she led her team to four consecutive state titles. The team compiled a record of 144–6 while she was on the team. She scored 2,646 points during her four years, and finished her high school career with 53 consecutive victories. Beard was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2000 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored fifteen points. College Coach Gail Goestenkors, then at Duke University, successfully recruited Beard. During her four years, she set a school scoring record of 2,687 points. Beard is the first NCAA basketball player to amass over 2,600 points, 500 assist and 400 steals. During the four years Beard played for Duke, the team won four regular season and tournaments championships. Beard helped Duke reach the Final Four twice in her career. In her senior year, the team achieved the first ever number one ranking in the final AP poll of the year. WNBA career Beard was drafted in 2004 with the 2nd overall pick. In her rookie season, she led the Mystics to the playoffs, despite the loss of star Chamique Holdsclaw halfway through the season. They lost to the Connecticut Sun in the first round of the playoffs. At present she is recovering from an ankle tendon, Achilles, injury. http://www.wnba.com/mystics/news/alana_beards_road_recovery_2010_05_07.html International Beard was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009. The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational. Beard was one of twenty players named to the national team pool. Twelve of this group will be chosen to represent the USA in the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. Honors and awards }} High school * USAT Second team All-America 2000 * Parade Second team All-America 2000 * John R. Wooden Award-Women's Basketball National Player of the Year 2004 College * State Farm Wade Trophy-National Player of the Year 2004 * Associated Press -National Player of the Year 2004 * Naismith Player of the Year * Lowe's Senior CLASS Award 2004 * United States Basketball Writers Association-National Player of the Year 2004 * Victor Award-National Player of the Year 2003 * ESPN.com-National Player of the Year 2003, 2004 * Bayer Advantage Senior Class Award 2004 * Kodak All-American 2002, 2003, 2004 * AP All-American 2002, 2003, 2004 * United States Basketball Writers Association All-America 2002, 2003, 2004 * Women's Basketball News Service All-America 2001, 2003, 2004 * Kodak/WBCA All-District II 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 * United States Basketball Writers Association National Freshman of the Year 2001 * Sports Illustrated National Freshman of the Year 2001 * Women's Basketball Journal National Freshman of the Year 2001 * CBS Sportsline National Freshman of the Year 2001 * Basketball Times Freshman All-America 2001 * WBCA Player(s) of the Year 2004 * ACC Female Athlete of the Year 2003, 2004 Professional * 2005 WNBA All-Star Team * 2006 WNBA All-Star Team * 2007 WNBA All-Star Team * 2009 WNBA All-Star Selection Notes }} References * External links *WNBA Player Profile *WNBA chat transcript *Alana's bio at usolympicteam.com *2008 Moment of Thanks video of Alana Beard thanking the troops for their service Category:Born in 1982 Category:American women's basketball players Category:Duke Blue Devils women's basketball players Category:Washington Mystics players Category:Canberra Capitals players